Air-pumping apparatus.



No. 784,575. PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905.

T. H. J; LEGKBAND.

AIR PUMPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14, 1902.

NITED STATES Patented March 14, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

THEODOR H. J. LEOKBAND, OF DES MOlNES, IOIVA, ASSIGNOR TO LECK- BAND GAS COMPANY, OF MASON CITY, IOWA.

AIR-PUMPING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,575, dated March 14, 1905.

Application filed July 14, 1902. Serial No. 115,520.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODOR H. J. LEoK- BAN-D, a citizen of the United States, residing at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Air- Pumping Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My object is to provide a convenient, safe, durable, and automatic ai r-pumping apparatus for making and distributing illuminating-gas by vaporizing volatile oil and carbureting the V 5 supply-tank 18 and is fixed to the end of a My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of elements I5 and subcombinations, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus and shows the relative positions of the different operative mechanisms. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of an automatic device for reversing the motion of a piston in the airfeeding mechanism.

The numeral 10 designates a reservoir for 2 5 compressed air that is to be utilized as the motor force for operating the apparatus. It is obvious this reservoir and all the other parts of the apparatus may vary in size as required for supplying different numbers of burners in lighting buildings varying in size or different numbers of street-lamps in towns of different population.

A gas-holder and carbureter combined consists of the outer wall 12 and an inner concentric wall 13, a bell 14, and a mixer within the inner wall. A frame 15 is fixed to the outside of the wall 12, and antifriction-rollers 16 are fixed to the top of the bell to engage said frame and to the bottom of the bell to engage 4 the wall 12 of the gas-holder as required to retain the bell perpendicular and to facilitate its intermittent up-and-down motions.

A storage-tank 17 for gasolene is designed to be under ground and connected with an elevated gravity supply-tank 18 by means of a conveyer-pipe 19 and a pump 20, as required for pumping liquid from the storage-tank 17 into the supply-tank 18 whenever required. A pipe 21 connects the tops of the storage and supply tanks to establish communication between them as required to return overflow from the supply-tank to the storage-tank whenever the pump is operated too long.

To convey liquid from the tank 18 into the carbureter-chamber within the wall 13, an automatic feed device for regulating the passage of the liquid is interposed between the supply-tank and the carburetor. It consists of an elongated chamber 22, that is connected with a pipe 23, that extends down from the solid bar 24, a pipe 25, that extends from the one end of said bar into the bottom of the carbureter, a pipe 26, having joints a con nected with the end of said solid bar and one end of the chamber 22. and a pipe 27, having joints a connected with the other end of said chamber and the lower end of the pipe 23 in such a manner that the chamber 22 can be swung laterally to the right or left and lowered by means of a handle 28, fixed thereto, and at the same time remain level, as required to regulate the quantity of liquid fed into the carbureter. It isobvious the liquid in the carbureter cannot risehigher therein than the liquid in the chamber 22. A float 29 on the end of a lever 30, fulcrumed in the chamber 22, terminates in a valve at the end of the short arm and is adapted to close the top end of the pipe 27, as required to stop the flow of liquid from the supply-tank 18 into the chamber 22 and from the chamber 22 into the carbureter 13. It is also obvious that the upper end of the jointed pipe 27, fixed to the chamber 22 and extended into it to serve as a valve-seat, will allow the fioat 29 and the valve on the end of its pivoted arm 30 to operate regardless of the elevation of the chamber 22.

A rigidly-fixed pipe 31 projects upward from the pipe 25 and terminates in a downwardly-inclined extension fixed to the lower end of the pipe 21, as required to prevent the carbureter 13 from becoming filled with liquid, because it cannot rise higher in the carbureter than the top of the pipe 31. A pipe 32 is fixed in the top of the chamber 22 and connected with a gas-distributing pipe 33, that extends from within the bell 14 and the carbureter 13, as required to allow air or vapor to escape from the chamber 22. A pipe 34 is connected with the top of the pipe 31 and extends upward and then downward and is connected with the pipe 33, as required to prevent liquid in the carbureter from being siphoned therefrom into the storage-tank 17.

The dotted lines in the carbureter 13 indicate the limit to which the liquid can rise therein, and it is obvious that when the chamber 22 on the jointed tubes that support it is lowered the limit to which the liquid may rise in the carbureter will be lowered accordingly and that the quantity of liquid admitted to pass from the supply-tank 18 to the converter is thus automatically regulated.

To feed air from the compressed-air reservoir into the converter 13, a plurality of mixers are slidingly connected with the lower end of tubes 36. These mixers are cone-shaped and perforated, so that air discharged from the lower'ends of the tubes 36 will form globules in the liquid and rise up through the liquid as required to carburet the air to produce gas that will fill the gasholder and cause the bell 14 to rise. For regulating the quality of the gas the mixers 35 are connected with a rod 37, that extends up through a stuffing-box 38 and a pipe 39 by rods 40 and a lever 41, fulcrumed to the bottom of the gas-holder 12 and adjustably connected with a fixed pin 42 by means of a rod 43, hinged to the end of the lever and provided with projections 44, adapted to engage the pin, or in any suitable way as required to adjust and retain the mixers 35 at different points of elevationin the liquid in the carbureter 13. v

To automatically feed air to the mixers 35, a tube 45 is connected to the tops of the tubes 36 and communicates with an air-tube 46, that extends downward therefrom and through the bottom of the carbureter 13 and from thence up to an air-pump 47, (preferably a duplex bellows,) that is connected with the top of the compressed-air reservoir 10 by the-tube 48, that extends downward and is connected with a cylinder, as hereinafter described. A rigid frame is fixed to the partition 51 of the bellows, and a piston-stem 52 is fixed to said frame to extend into a fixed motor-cylin der 53, as required to reciprocate the piston 54 in the motor-cylinder, and a bar 0, fixed to the bottom of the bellows and top of the motor-cylinder, connects them. I

To jointly operate the duplex bellows 47 and the piston 54, a tube 55 is connected at its ends with the endportions of the cylinder and provided with a three-way plug-valve 56 at each end and connected with the tube 48, as required to alternately admit air from the reservoir 10 to enter the end portions of the cylinder 53, as required to drive the piston in reverse ways. When the piston is in the lower end of the cylinder, the lower portion of the bellows will be compressed and the upper portion expanded, as shown, and the air that was in the cylinder forced therefrom into the tube 55 and from thence into an exhausttube 57, that is connected with the tube 55 and also with the tube 46, as required to convey the air thus fed through. the cylinder 53 to the mixers 35 in the carbureter 13. At the same time the air that is expelled from the lower portion of the duplex bellows 47 will be conveyed into the tube 46 by a tube 58, that is provided with an automatic checkvalve (Z and connected with. the lower end of the bellows and the tube 46, and the upper portion of the bellows will be filled with air from the atmosphere through a valve 59 at its top, while at the same time the valve in the upper end of the cylinder will admit compressed air to be fed from the tube 48 into the cylinder.

The air conveyed from the reservoir 10 into the cylinder 55 through the pipe 48 and valves 56 and from the atmosphere through the bellows 47 will be conveyed to the carbureter through the pipes 46 and 57, and the supply of air in the reservoir will be thus advantageously supplemented from the inexhaustible supply outside of bellows and reservoir.

To automatically operate the distributingvalves of the motor-cylinder 53, a bar 0 is fixed to the bottom of the bellows and the top of themotor-cylinder. A lever 61 is fulcrumed to the bar and has an arm 62 extending upward at right angles and has a weight 63 on its end. A mating lever 64 is fulcrumed to the upper portion of the bar 60, and the long arms of these mating levers are pivotally connected by a rod 65, that has a loop 66 at its lower end. is extended from the upper valve 56 through the loop and pivotally connected with the valve-stem 68 of the lower valve 56 by alink 69 in such a manner that when the piston 54 in the cylinder 53 moves downward the lower valve will be adjustedas required to allow air to pass from the cylinder into the tube 57 and from thence into the converter 13 through the tube 46, while at the same time the upper valve will be adjusted as required to admit air to pass through the tube 48 and valve 56 into the upper end of the motor-cylinder.

To reverse the positions of the valve-stems as required to. admit air into the lower end of the motor-cylinder and discharge it into the tubes 55 and57, the positions of the levers 61 and 64 are changed by the downward motion of the piston 54 and the frame 50, fixed to the partition of the bellows. and the enlargement at the center of the lower end of the frame contacts with the short arm of the lever 61 and actuates said lever as required to bring the weighted arm 62 past a perpendicular line, so that the weight will then instantly force the long arms of the levers upward to operate the valve to admit air into the lower A valve-stem 67 end of the motor-cylinder and discharge air from the its upper end. r

The valves 56 have elbow-shaped ports, so that a quarter-revolution of each valve at the same time opens them to communicate with the opposite ends of the cylinder to alternately admit and discharge air from the motor-cylinder. A stop on each end of the lower valve-chamber 56 restricts the vibratory mot'rons of the valve-stems and valves. The exhaust air by means of the tube 55, that connects the two valve-chambers, is thus alternately fed from the ends of the motor-cylinder into the tube 57, and thereby into the tube 46, tobe conveyed to and distributed by the mixers 35 in the carbureter 13, and when sufficient air has thus been conveyed from the reservoir 10 to generate gas the bell 14 will rise in the tank 12of the gas-holder, and a rod 71, having a lateral bend 72 fixed to the bell, will automatically open and close avalve 73 in the pipe 48, as required to regulate the flow of air through that pipe into the feed mechanism and from thence into the mixers in the carbureter. In the position shown the valve 73 is closed, and whenever the supply of gas in the bell is diminished sufiiciently to allow the bell to descend the bend 72 in the rod 71 will contact with the handle of the valve-stein as required to open the valve and allow the passage of air in the tube 48. The compressed air that actuates the feed mechanism and the supply of gas in the gas-holder thus 'coact in regulating the passage of air from the reservoir into the combined carbureter and gasholder.

Having thus described the purpose of my invention and the construction and function of each operative element and subcombination, the practical operation and utility of the complete apparatus will be obvious to persons familiar with the art to which it pertains.

'hatIclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a carbureter of an air compressor delivering thereto, a compressed-air motor for driving the compressor and connections whereby the exhaust of the motor is also delivered to the carbureter.

2. In an apparatus for feeding air to a carbureter, a carburetor, automatic feed mech anism consisting of a duplex bellows, an airreservoir, a pipe connected with the top of the bellows and the carbureter, a pipe connected with the lower end of the bellows and with the said pipe that is connected with the carburetor, a fixed transverse partition in the center of the bellows, a motor-cylinder, connected to the reservoir, a bar fixed to the lower end of the bellows and to the motorcylinder, a frame fixed to the fixed partition of the bellows, a piston in the cylinder, astem fixed to the piston and to said frame and automatic valve-operating mechanism connected with the fixed bar that connects the bellows and cylinder, arranged and combined to operate in the manner set forth for the purposes stated.

3. In an apparatus for feeding air to a carbureter, a carburetor, automatic feed mechanism consisting of a duplex bellows, an air-reservoir, a pipe connected with the top and bottom of the bellows and the carbureter, a fixed transverse partition in the center of the bellows, a motor-cylinder for actuating the bellows, a bar fixed to the lower end of the bellows and to the cylinder, a frame fixed to the fixed partition of the bellows, a piston in the cylinder, a stem fixed to the piston and to the said frame, automatic valve-operating mechanism connected with the fixed bar that connects the bellows and cylinder, a valve-chamber at each end portion of the cylinder, a plug-valve, having an elbow-shaped port, in each valve-chamber, a valve-stem fixed to each valve, a link connecting the ends of the valvestems, a tube connecting the two valves with the air-reservoir, two levers fulcrumed to the bar that connects the bellows and the cylinder, an arm extending from the lower lever, a weight on the end of the arm, a link, having a loop at its lower end, connecting the ends of the long arms of the levers and the loop inclosing the stem of the upper valve, arranged and combined to operate in the manner set forth for the purposes stated.

4. In an apparatus for feeding air to a carbureter, a carbureter, a reservoir for compressed air, an air-forcing mechanism, a pipe extending from said air-forcing mechanism, a motor-cylinder having a piston connected to the air-forcing mechanism and a valve at each end, a tube connected with each valve for supplying air from the reservoir to the cylinder and a tube connected with each valve for exhausting air from the cylinder, and tubes for conveying the air from the air-forcing mechanism and the motor-cylinder to the carbureter, arranged and combined to operate in the manner set forth for the purposes stated.

5. In an apparatus for fcedingair to a carbureter, an air-forcing mechanism, a reservoir for compressed air, a motor-cylinder having a valve at each end connected with the air-reservoir, a tube connected with each valve for feeding air to the motor-cylinder, a tube connected with each valve for exhausting air from the motor-cylinder, a carbureter, a tube for conveying-the exhaust air from both the valves to the carbureter and automatic mechanism for regulating the passage of air from the reservoir to the motor-cylinder, arranged and com-- bined to feed air from the reservoir and from the atmosphere to the carbureter in the manner set forth for the purposes stated.

THEODOR H. J. LECKBAND,

itnesses:

R. H. ORWIG, TnoMAs G. ORWIG. 

